Impact Lenses:
Co-Creating Pathways for Global Change
A collaborative platform connecting investors, philanthropists, and changemakers to build practical, measurable solutions across priority global themes.
Co-Creation Engines for Global Impact
Forum for Impact’s Impact Lenses are the co-creation engines for our global impact investment and philanthropy community. Our events create unique coalitions of the willing who are often already active in impact and want to move capital where it can do the most good. Together, we identify a small number of high-potential themes each year and build practical pathways for collaboration, from early dialogue through to concrete structures, projects, and investments.
Each Lens identifies high-potential themes and builds collaborative pathways—from early dialogue to real projects, structures, and investments.
Convene the Right People
FFI gathers trusted partners within a specific focus area to build measurable impact.
Co-Design Practical Solutions
From models and frameworks to investible structures few could build alone.
Mobilize Capital That Matters
Helping channel philanthropic, public, and private capital toward lasting, systemic change.
THE LENSES
Sustainable Oceans Initiative
The lens utilizes blended finance models to help promote investment and philanthropy for more sustainable oceans, mobilizing a coalition of public, private, and philanthropic capital to accelerate investment in the blue economy and link ocean health with resilient coastal communities and long-term growth. It turns fragmented funding into structured, blended pathways for sustainable oceans to help unlock new funding opportunities in the sector. The lens is focused on several regions including Canada, the Caribbean, Middle East, and Africa.
- Build a trusted pipeline of ocean-positive enterprises and programmes.
- Design and share replicable blended finance blueprints for governments, DFIs, and investors.
- Aim to mobilize at least USD 25 million in blended finance for high-impact ocean projects.
Donor-Advised Funds & Philanthropic Vehicles
The DAFs & Philanthropic Vehicles Lens brings together donors, advisors, and platforms to move philanthropic capital from “parked” to “purposeful.” It focuses on creating practical structures so donor-advised funds and foundations can align more of their assets with measurable social and environmental outcomes and impact investment. This lens focuses on enabling donors and foundations, and knowledge transfer to help create successful approaches for using DAFs for impact investing.
- Increase the share of DAF and foundation assets deployed in impact-aligned investments and grants.
- Co-create model mandates, structures, and policies for catalytic DAF/philanthropy strategies.
- Support pilot portfolios that demonstrate what’s possible when DAFs actively embrace impact.
Impact In and Alongside Indigenous Peoples
This lens supports investment approaches that are designed with Indigenous Peoples, not just for them – honouring sovereignty, rights, knowledge, and strong community wellbeing. It creates trusted spaces where Indigenous investors, leaders, and innovators can co-design structures that align capital flows with Indigenous values, land stewardship, and self-determined priorities across regions.
- Prototype new partnership and revenue-sharing models for land, conservation, and enterprise.
- Document and share replicable approaches that uplift Indigenous priorities across regions.
- Aim to mobilize at least USD 20 million for Indigenous-led and Indigenous-aligned initiatives.
Sovereign Risk in Carbon & Clean Energy Finance
This lens seeks to identify and mitigate sovereign portfolio risk that arises from misalignment between sovereign investors and impact commitments made at the national level, including Nationally Determined Contributions and “Vision 2030” strategies. It works with sovereign wealth funds, public investors, and partners to build portfolios that catalyse investment into clean energy, climate resilience, and sustainable infrastructure aligned with national development pathways.
- Optimise portfolio risk: reduce reputational and financial risk in sovereign portfolios by aligning with national and international climate commitments.
- Strengthen investment alignment: improve investment policy and portfolio construction quality so they support national economic, climate, and just-transition priorities.
- Catalyse capital allocation: increase and better target investment in high-quality climate, energy, and infrastructure projects.
- Build partnerships and co-investment: surface and co-develop sovereign co-investment opportunities that leverage public capital for measurable, long-term impact.
Empowering Women for Global Impact in Finance & Entrepreneurship
This lens amplifies women’s leadership as capital allocators, founders, and ecosystem builders. It focuses on shifting who sits at the tables where capital decisions are made – and on unlocking new flows of capital to women-led funds, businesses, and platforms across regions and asset classes.
- Support the launch and scaling of women-led funds, syndicates, and platforms.
- Move new capital to women founders and leaders in key frontier and growth markets.
- Co-develop practical playbooks for embedding gender-lens approaches across portfolios and institutions.
Sustainable Infrastructure Investment in Africa
The Africa Infrastructure Lens focuses on catalysing long-term, sustainable infrastructure investment across the continent – energy, water, transport, social, and digital infrastructure – guided by African-rooted agendas and community needs. It helps move capital into real project pipelines and blended finance vehicles that close critical infrastructure gaps.
- Advance priority project pipelines and platforms toward financial close.
- Support the design of regional thematic infrastructure vehicles and blended facilities.
- Share case-based blueprints for sustainable, community-anchored African infrastructure.
Venture Frontier Africa
This lens supports the next generation of African founders, funds, and platforms solving real problems in climate, finance, health, livelihoods, and beyond. It focuses on building high-quality, Africa-rooted venture pipelines and investor communities that can scale innovation and impact sustainably.
- Catalyse new capital commitments into African early-stage funds, syndicates, and venture platforms.
- Grow a portfolio of high-quality, impact-driven venture opportunities led by African founders.
- Surface and share models for better alignment between local and global investors.
Misinformation in Media
The Misinformation in Media Lens tackles the system-level drivers of misinformation by working through trusted information ecosystems. It brings together media organisations, civic-tech innovators, funders, and platforms to strengthen the truth, context, and resilience of the information environment in key regions.
- Support and scale trusted local publishers, media hubs, and information networks.
- Incubate and grow capital and product partnerships for digital trust, fact-checking, and media literacy initiatives.
- Develop and share practical investment frameworks for resilient and trusted media ecosystems.
Impact From Within
Impact From Within builds leadership from the inside out – helping people who move capital and lead institutions cultivate resilience, clarity, and grounded presence over the long arc of change. Rooted in contemplative and somatic practices, this lens connects inner transformation with better decision-making, healthier cultures, and sustained impact.
- Support cohorts of impact leaders through programmes and retreats that reduce burnout and deepen impact.
- Help institutions invest in inner-capacity and culture initiatives as part of leadership and risk strategies.
- Gather and share stories and evidence connecting inner work to shifts in portfolios, partnerships, and outcomes.
Global Sports Impact Coalition (Sports for Good Lens)
The Global Sports Impact Coalition is a collaborative platform uniting foundations, funds, family offices, public financiers, and sports organisations that want to use sport as a vehicle for social and environmental good. Building on the Global Sport Impact Fund, it helps structure and scale investment into sport-for-good projects around the world.
- Capital mobilisation: blend impact investment, grants, guarantees, concessional capital, and in-kind resources to finance high-impact sport-for-good projects.
- Infrastructure impact: support climate-smart sports communities, multi-sport hubs, and related developments that expand education, health, and inclusion.
- Industry & entrepreneurial growth: back athlete entrepreneurship, local SMEs, and fellowships in the sport-for-good economy.
- Capacity building & inclusion: train coaches and youth leaders (especially girls and young women), and create pathways to local and international leagues.